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Village Courts play effective role in promoting peace in rural areas: EU Ambassador

2019

Ambassador of the European Union and Head of Delegation to Bangladesh Ms. Rensje Teerink said, “Village Courts are playing very effective role to maintain peace in rural areas, ensuring good governance as well as reducing litigations in the higher courts.’’ She also praised the efforts of the local administration in making Village Courts more functional in working areas of the Activating Village Courts in Bangladesh Phase II (AVCB II) Project during a field visit in Khulna on 18 July 2019 along with Mr. Robert Chatterton Dickson, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

Mr. Robert Chatterton Dickson appreciated services of Village Courts for reaching justice among the village people including the poor within short time and with very low cost.

Ms. Audrey Maillot, Governance Team Leader; Mr. Alexandru Calota, Programme Manager, Governance and Mr. Philip Mellish, Programme Manager, Governance of the European Union were also present in the visiting team who observed activities of Village Courts at Noihati Union Parishad of Rupsha upazila in Khulna. The Delegation attended in a live hearing session in Village Court, also discussed with beneficiaries and elected representatives of the union parishad apart from participating in a court yard meeting.

National Project Coordinator of the AVCB II Project, being implemented by the Local Government Division with trio-partnership of the European Union, Government of Bangladesh and UNDP, Mr. Sarder M. Asaduzzaman briefed the Delegation regarding activities of the project, implementation strategies, progress and success made so far. During a meeting with Deputy Commissioner’s office, Deputy Director Local Government of Khulna Ms. Israt Jahan briefed the Delegation on overall activities of AVCBII project in the district. She mentioned that, in total 112,428 cases are filed in 1,080 unions of the project area from July 2017 to May 2019 out of which 88,346 (77%) cases have been resolved and decisions of 82,733 (94%) cases have been implemented. She also shared, among the applicants more than 28 percent were women. Finally, the visiting Delegation expressed their overwhelming satisfaction about the success and impact of the AVCBII project made at the ground level.